National Debt

[Chief_USA]

President? Obama says that if the debt limit is not raised that the checks won't go out, I was going to say "Entitlement" checks, but retirees have earned the checks. But he doesn't say that the give aways to Venezuela, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China (who owns most of our debt) and most of Africa will not go out. If most of the Foreign Give Aways were stopped we would be rolling in green especially if we stopped the stipend to the (enemy) United Nations. Maybe if we stopped the hand outs they would then come to us with hands out and agreeing votes in the UN or remove of the UN to Brussells, Belgium.

[JWebb]

I cringe everytime Social Security and Medicare are referred to as entitlements. I have paid into those two involuntary insurance programs for many many years. I consider them a contract with the government and they need to be honored.

[mdarling]

Slight correction to the initial post. I believe the President said if the debt limit is NOT raised that checks will not go out. Just another thing to hold the country hostage!

[JWebb]

Many other politicians (both democrats and republicans) are saying that is not true and that SS checks will go out no matter the outcome of the vote. It seems both sides of the debate are not above a few scare tactics.

[countryboy]

Of course its all about scare tactics. They play on the american people emotions..You got Obama acting like a dictator or bully and wanting it his way or the highway..I say just shut down the dang goverment.Call their bluff and let the chips fall where they may.:rockon:

[Nomos]

I cringe everytime Social Security and Medicare are referred to as entitlements. I have paid into those two involuntary insurance programs for many many years. I consider them a contract with the government and they need to be honored.

Hear hear!

[whiteorchid]

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/one_obama_presser_36_obama_lies_and_deceptions.htm l

Some lies and deceptions on the debt.

[Peaches]

We need a "Like" button on this subject - these are all great comments. Chief, I said the same the very day Obama spewed that garbage about August Social Security checks not going out.

How much money did we send to Pakistan to "fight terrorism" all those years while bin Laden hid out in that country?

What about the thousands of refund dollars "low income" families receive because of "earned income credits"?

But, Obama threatens to halt payments to our disabled and elderly...what a crock!

I really hate to feel this way, but sometimes I can't help but think this administration is out to destroy the United States financially. I feel as if it's their goal to do so. Will Obama's next move be to print more money to "solve" our crisis?

Texas has weathered the financial crisis better than most other states. Has anybody in Washington given thought that perhaps that's because we don't have a state income tax? The number one thing we have to do to save our nation is cut wasteful spending. Next, we have to get Americans back to work so our "tax pool" can grow. How do we do that? The first and best step Washington can take is to reduce or eliminate the minimum wage.

And, dlet's not forget to get rid of the IRS agents Obama hired to enforce the insurance requirements of his medical reform act!

(Aggghhhhh! Gotta go take a blood pressure pill!)

[Nomos]

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/one_obama_presser_36_obama_lies_and_deceptions.htm l

Some lies and deceptions on the debt.
Other worthwhile sites:
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ -- has a LOT of data other than just the amount of total debt.
http://www.dirtyspendingsecrets.com/ -- hold your nose! A sample:

Incredibly, Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job. This is the kind of wasteful spending that President Obama and Congress have stubbornly refused to cut. Instead, they planned to raise taxes on families and entrepreneurs by trillions of dollars! Only action by citizens like you will break the Washington liberals of this kind of frivolous splurging :banghead:

[tarheel]

Based on Obama's threat, on August 3rd, the Social Security checks will not go out. Obama is very concerned about this. So concerned, in fact, that he is having a 50th birthday party for himself on that date. If you could somehow save up a little over two years worth of Social Security checks (which, according to him, you ain't getting anyway), you could afford to go to his birthday party, where tickets cost up to $35,800 each.

[KINGCHIP]

Other worthwhile sites:
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ -- has a LOT of data other than just the amount of total debt.
http://www.dirtyspendingsecrets.com/ -- hold your nose! A sample:

Incredibly, Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job. This is the kind of wasteful spending that President Obama and Congress have stubbornly refused to cut. Instead, they planned to raise taxes on families and entrepreneurs by trillions of dollars! Only action by citizens like you will break the Washington liberals of this kind of frivolous splurging :banghead:

Well I will sleep better knowing that Chinese Prostitutes are drinking more responsibly.

Based on Obama's threat, on August 3rd, the Social Security checks will not go out. Obama is very concerned about this. So concerned, in fact, that he is having a 50th birthday party for himself on that date. If you could somehow save up a little over two years worth of Social Security checks (which, according to him, you ain't getting anyway), you could afford to go to his birthday party, where tickets cost up to $35,800 each.

As I understand it, the decision to not pay SS rests solely with Obama.

[tarheel]

As I understand it, the decision to not pay SS rests solely with Obama.

Absolutely. Obama is the chief executive. He alone can determine which checks he wants written, and which not. As a practical matter though, it is just a threat for politics. The checks will go out, that's one thing we can take to the bank.

As an interesting note, polls are showing that around 2/3 of the American people do not want the debt limit raised at all. Sounds like they (we?) want to cut up Uncle Sam's credit cards. Balanced Budget Amendment anyone?

[KINGCHIP]

Ditto that, and throw in a flat tax.

[countryboy]

Other worthwhile sites:
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ -- has a LOT of data other than just the amount of total debt.
http://www.dirtyspendingsecrets.com/ -- hold your nose! A sample:

Incredibly, Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job. This is the kind of wasteful spending that President Obama and Congress have stubbornly refused to cut. Instead, they planned to raise taxes on families and entrepreneurs by trillions of dollars! Only action by citizens like you will break the Washington liberals of this kind of frivolous splurging :banghead:

That one ranks right up there with them spending money to study penial sizes of gay men.They want to know if size makes them gay..:rolleyes:

[Caretaker]

Many other politicians (both democrats and republicans) are saying that is not true and that SS checks will go out no matter the outcome of the vote. It seems both sides of the debate are not above a few scare tactics.

Its all scare tactics. Part of the usual Political antics by both partys..It seems to me that the August checks would still go out but the September ones may not.That is they come back and say they never actually had the money in the first place.

Third party anyone??.

[whiteorchid]

Washington has already informed Wall Street that America will not default on its debt. Looks like this is all smoke and mirrors. It makes me mad that the democrats will not agree to pass a balanced budget amendment. All this debt is due to government spending, democrats and republicans alike, yet it looks like way too much has been spent during this administration.

Obama will not agree to any of the plans because (in my opinion) of the timing of the cuts; he doesn't want to make cuts before the election. It's all politics. He talks about "sacrificing" and making tough choices but to me as an observer, he doesn't want to, either.

We were told before the election that Obama was going to go line by line on expenses and cut what wasn't needed. Has he done that? I don't see evidence of any cutting, just spending and bailouts. How many shovel ready jobs were completed with all that money (spent that we didn't have)? Where's the end product? Show me pictures of the new roads and green buildings. Have we spent ourselves into oblivion and have nothing to show for it? Will the media ever question him?

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-privately-telling-bankers-that-we-wont-default-2011-7

[Peaches]

Its all scare tactics. Part of the usual Political antics by both partys..It seems to me that the August checks would still go out but the September ones may not.That is they come back and say they never actually had the money in the first place.

Third party anyone??.

I'm afraid a 3rd party will only guarantee a win for Democrats. We cannot afford 4 more years of Obama.

[Peaches]

Have we spent ourselves into oblivion and have nothing to show for it? Will the media ever question him?

Give them more money to spend and they will spend it...and turn around and ask for more.

[countryboy]

Give them more money to spend and they will spend it...and turn around and ask for more.

That is absolutely correct. They are addicted to OPM. They are NO different then Gamblers.And they Love Ponzi schemes.

[tarheel]

http://image.patriotpost.us/2011-07-26-humor-toon1.jpg

[Peaches]

I LOVE it Tarheel! lol

[whiteorchid]

Here's a pretty good article explaining our current problem and the difference between the national debt and deficit.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/26/v-print/2481485/enough-fear-mongering-heres-truth.html

[Caretaker]

I'm afraid a 3rd party will only guarantee a win for Democrats. We cannot afford 4 more years of Obama.

Do you really think we can survive Either party at this point?.

[JakRussll]

This is not an endorsement by any means, but this Congressman sums up the Debt Ceiling in an easy to understand analogy.

Imagine you had a pesky neighbor who somehow took out a mortgage on his house in your name and by some legal trickery you were obligated to pay for it. Imagine watching this neighbor throw drunken parties, buy expensive cars, add more rooms to the house, and hire dozens of people to wait on him hand and foot. Imagine that he also managed to take out several credit cards in your name. One by one, he would max them out and then use your good name and credit to obtain another credit card, then another and then another.
Each time, this neighbor would claim that he needed the new credit card to pay interest on the other maxed out credit cards. If he defaulted on those cards, your credit score would be hurt and when you wanted to buy something for yourself, it would be more difficult to get a loan and the interest you paid would be higher. Imagine that you mulled this over, and time after time, said nothing as he filled out more credit applications so he would not have to default on the other debt taken out in your name.
Meanwhile, another shiny new Mercedes appears in his driveway. At what point do you think you might get tired of this game? And, even though you are left with no really good options, do you think you might eventually tell him to go ahead and default, just stop spending your money!
This analogy demonstrates the position we are in with our government and the debt ceiling. The government has run up a huge debt in the name of the American people, who are sick and tired of being on the hook for it. There are no really good options left. Defaulting on a portion of the debt may not be without costs, but it is better than handing the government yet another credit card.

R. Paul, Texas

[Caretaker]

This is not an endorsement by any means, but this Congressman sums up the Debt Ceiling in an easy to understand analogy.

Imagine you had a pesky neighbor who somehow took out a mortgage on his house in your name and by some legal trickery you were obligated to pay for it. Imagine watching this neighbor throw drunken parties, buy expensive cars, add more rooms to the house, and hire dozens of people to wait on him hand and foot. Imagine that he also managed to take out several credit cards in your name. One by one, he would max them out and then use your good name and credit to obtain another credit card, then another and then another.
Each time, this neighbor would claim that he needed the new credit card to pay interest on the other maxed out credit cards. If he defaulted on those cards, your credit score would be hurt and when you wanted to buy something for yourself, it would be more difficult to get a loan and the interest you paid would be higher. Imagine that you mulled this over, and time after time, said nothing as he filled out more credit applications so he would not have to default on the other debt taken out in your name.
Meanwhile, another shiny new Mercedes appears in his driveway. At what point do you think you might get tired of this game? And, even though you are left with no really good options, do you think you might eventually tell him to go ahead and default, just stop spending your money!
This analogy demonstrates the position we are in with our government and the debt ceiling. The government has run up a huge debt in the name of the American people, who are sick and tired of being on the hook for it. There are no really good options left. Defaulting on a portion of the debt may not be without costs, but it is better than handing the government yet another credit card.

R. Paul, Texas


Well this is an endorsement from me. Go all the way Ron Paul. If he doesnt get the GOP ticket then everyone should write his name in as an Independent. Hes sorta like Americas Old ben kenobi.he only grows stronger.

[whiteorchid]

It's bad enough to spend the country into oblivion, but some of the things they are wasting our money on makes me want to chew nails.

Here's the latest - $600 million a year to the Palestinians who are taking that money and giving $5M a month to jailed terrorists. The Jerusalem Post reported it but I"m wondering if our illustrious media here will mention it. Of course it's just a drop in the bucket to the trillions we spend but we can't pay our bills and we're handing out money to other nations like it grows on trees. Billions to Pakistan, not to mention other nations who take advantage of us.

Obama talks about sacrifice but his wife spends $1.75M a year on a staff of 24-26 people. Taxpayer money. There's a lot of money they could cut out of the budget if they wanted to, but if you complain about it they call you an extremist.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=231103

[WhoIsJohnGalt]

Just had one of those light-bulb thoughts.

Remember Chaos Theory? Wherein real change only happens during periods of upheaval...

Could be that to effect real change in the way Washington spends money, it's going to take an upheaval. ...that upheaval being a NO to increasing the debt limit.

For certain, Washington DC has got to learn to spend within its limits. Why not now??

[JakRussll]

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes on record in all this drama about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a
law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3%
of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election."

[whiteorchid]

Congress has what - a 9% approval rating?

Don't they get it? I guess they do but they don't care! That's what makes me so mad - their arrogance.

Obama has blamed Bush for "the mess we're in" for over 2 years. Doesn't he realize the next President is going to say the same thing about him if he doesn't slow down on all this spending?

Shovel ready jobs, green jobs, high speed rail, health care, more money for education - all the things this administration wants - will put us further into debt long after this administration is gone.

It's all about votes and the Gov. refuses to look long term but sits there and plays silly accounting games.

[BubbasGeek]

History lesson time: debt tripled under Reagan from <$1T to $3T). Increased during Bush Senior to 5T, held steady during Clinton at $5T, increased under Bush Jr to >$11T. Bush Jr destroys economy and republicans blame it on Obama!

[Caretaker]

History lesson time: debt tripled under Reagan from <$1T to $3T). Increased during Bush Senior to 5T, held steady during Clinton at $5T, increased under Bush Jr to >$11T. Bush Jr destroys economy and republicans blame it on Obama!

And who was Reagans running mate?.

And that running mate was/is all for the NWO.

And Clinton is responsible for putting the UN in control of the National parks and Monuments.Which is probably why that 5t stayed at a constant level.

And Bush Jr didnt destroy the economy by himself.

And then we come to Obama. Has he done Everything He said he would do.?. How much more has spending increased under his watch and how much of that is being spent is on his personal wants/needs?

Bottom line is that you can trace many of the ills of this country back to which president?.And its been either Dems or Reps at the helm for how long?

[Caretaker]

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes on record in all this drama about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a
law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3%
of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election."







He needed to add to that statement and Included them not getting lifetime benefits for serving the country whether it was only one term of as a career politician.

[KINGCHIP]

I do know that obummer has spent in three years what it took Bush 8 years to spend. How's that math work for you? I guess that makes Bush less efficient.

[Peaches]

I do know that obummer has spent in three years what it took Bush 8 years to spend. How's that math work for you? I guess that makes Bush less efficient.


I may be incorrect, but I believe most of the spending during W's term came in the last couple of years of his Presidency. If you check the Congressional makeup at that time you'll find Democrats controlled Congress. But, then again, W did not use his veto powers to stop the spending...

[tarheel]

Peaches, of course you are correct. Everybody on here knows when the Democrats took control of Congress, or should know. Bush absolutely should have vetoed their crazy mess, but the Democrats got what they wanted, so you sure can't blame it on Bush. These charts are from government numbers, not made up by anybody else.

http://www.foundry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/wapoobamabudget1.jpg

[Caretaker]

Peaches, of course you are correct. Everybody on here knows when the Democrats took control of Congress, or should know. Bush absolutely should have vetoed their crazy mess, but the Democrats got what they wanted, so you sure can't blame it on Bush. These charts are from government numbers, not made up by anybody else.

http://www.foundry.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/wapoobamabudget1.jpg


Great post tarheel.. What I see disturbing with that chart is how high those trillions got for 09 and are only easing some for the up coming elections but are shown to go back up right after the elections.And look at the spread apart from the CBOs estimate compared to the WHs estimate..IMO the CBO will be far more accurate then what the WH predicts. All I can say is hang everyone cause this bumpy ride is going on for a long time

[BubbasGeek]

Root cause is Neoliberalism which started with Reagan in the 80's.

[yingxuy]

It makes me crazy, the Democratic Party will not agree to pass a balanced budget amendment. All this debt is due to government spending, as Democrats and Republicans, but it looks like way too much has been spent in the current government.